Olympus folders
The first camera made by Olympus was the Semi Olympus I folding camera, in 1936. It was a 4.5×6cm camera making 16 exposures on 120 film, with a vertical folding bed and a folding optical finder. The body was made by the Japanese company Proud, and was a copy of the Balda Baldax. The lens was a four-element Zuiko 75mm f:4.5, later marked 7.5cm. It was the first Olympus camera lens, marked Takatiho Tokyo, in which "Takatiho" is an alternative romanization of Takachiho, the company name at the time. The shutter was first a Compur to 1/250, then a Koho to 1/150, a shutter made by Olympus and based on the Prontor II. According to the Olympus corporate site, only five or six of the original Semi Olympus I with Compur shutter are known still to exist. There is also a trace of an ebay transaction (see here) for a Semi Olympus I with Rulex T-B-1-200 shutter. Around 1937 Olympus also sold the Semi Olympus II (セミ・オリンパス・II型), with a body designed by the company. It was another 4.5×6cm camera, with a horizontal folding bed, a rigid tubular finder and an accessory shoe to the right. It had the same lens and Koho shutter as the late Semi Olympus I. Most illustrations of the Semi Olympus II show a centered finder, but a brochure available at the Olympus corporate site, dated from 1937, shows a variant with a finder off-centered to the left, and the folding bed opening button right at the center. In this brochure it was announced with a Zuiko 7.5cm f:4.5 lens and a shutter named Laurel (ローレル, modern transcription Rōreru), same specifications as the Koho. On the picture, it seems that the shutter is marked Laurel (not very readable). The price was 105 yen. The chronology at the official Olympus site indicates 1937 for the Semi Olympus I with Koho shutter and 1938 for the Semi Olympus II; maybe the version presented in the 1937 brochure was never sold. However, the lens serial numbers seems to indicate an overlapping of the production of the Semi Olympus I (seen with lens s/n 6358) and Semi Olympus II (seen with lens s/n 2001). There are other doubtful points in that chronology. Released in 1939 or 1940, the Olympus Six (オリンパス・シックス) had a very similar body. It was now dual format and could take 6×6 and 4.5×6 pictures with a mask, having two red windows in the back. There was a body release, a folding optical finder and no accessory shoe. The Koho shutter was upgraded to 1/200. It was called Koho II in a wartime ad for the Olympus Six, and Koho III in an Olympus Six brochure available at the Olympus corporate site. The same brochure announced two versions, the Olympus Six I with a f:4.5 lens and the Olympus Six II with a f:3.5 lens. John Foster also mentions a model with an unnamed shutter to 1/300 in his web page. There is some confusion about the number of elements of the lenses mounted on the Olympus Six. Some sources say that the Six was released in 1939 with the same f:4.5 lens as the Semi Olympus, and that the lens became a five element one in 1940, together with the introduction of another five element f:3.5 version. However a ad (shown here, wartime post 1942) announced both versions f:4.5 and f:3.5 with four-element lenses. John Foster gives a convincing explanation (see link below) for the five element lens being related to Zuiko S and Super Olympus markings. After the war, the Olympus Six was sold again with a Zuiko 75mm f:3.5 lens. John Foster's page shows one with a Koho shutter and the book by Francesch shows another with a Copal 1-200-B-T shutter and no strap lugs. In 1948 the Olympus Chrome Six I introduced a diecast body, a chrome top plate, an accessory shoe and a rigid optical finder. It had the same Zuiko 75mm f:3.5 lens and Copal 1-200-B-T shutter. It still had the ability to take pictures in 4.5×6 format with a mask. Inside the finder a blue filter delimitated the 4.5×6 picture frame. It was only marked Olympus Six on the top plate, with Olympus-Six embossed in the back. All the following models shared the same markings, which today often causes confusion. The Chrome Six II, released the same year, was the same camera with a Zuiko 75mm f:2.8 lens. The chronology at the Olympus corporate site says it was equipped with the film surface stabilizer, it is certainly a confusion with the next model, whose user manual boasted the device as an innovation. The Chrome Six III from 1950 or 1951 had small changes. There were two variants, the III A with the f:3.5 lens and the III B with the f:2.8 lens. The shutter was now synchronized, with B-1-200 speeds, marked S.COPAL on top, called Synchro-Copal in the user manual. The most visible change was the bigger diecast accessory shoe. There was also a film reminder included in the top right knob. Some Chrome Six III do not have the film reminder; they are probably early ones. The user manual insisted on a device called "film plane corrector", apparently tensioning the film to enhance the film flatness. According to one of the pictures, it was located underneath the film reminder. It is unknown if the cameras devoid of film reminder have the film tensioning device. It is not even sure if they are genuine Chrome Six III or some transitional model. The Chrome Six III was the first Olympus cameras with the lens marked Olympus instead of Takatiho Tokyo. It was probably the first Olympus camera with a coated lens. Some f:3.5 lenses, probably early ones, were marked Olympus Zuiko C. with a red or black C. They were observed on some Chrome Six III without film reminder (see here and http://www.triplethouse.com/PREV/OlympusSix%20PREV/Olympus.html). Most f:3.5 lenses and all the f:2.8 lenses observed were marked Olympus Zuiko F.C. This probably stands for "Full Coated": in the user manual the lens is called Zuiko Full Coated. At some later point, the f:3.5 lens became Olympus D.Zuiko F.C. has also been observed on a Chrome Six III. This marking indicated that the lens had four elements, D being the fourth letter in the alphabet. It possibly came with a design recomputation, that is suggested in the book by Francesch. All the later 3.5 models had the same marking. The Chrome Six IV A and Chrome Six IV B from 1954 had an uncoupled rangefinder added in a modified top plate. The IV A had the f:3.5 lens, and the IV B had the f:2.8 lens. It is said that the IVA model was sometimes called Chrome Six RIA. Probably the IVB was also called Chrome Six RIB. This explains the later Chrome Six RII appellation, probably for "rangefinder model II". The chronology at the Olympus corporate site presents the IVA and the RIA as separate models, both from 1954, but it is not that reliable. The Chrome Six V A and Chrome Six V B from 1955 had a new top plate with the optical finder integrated, with a reducing mask built in the finder for the 4.5x6 format. The Chrome Six V also had an advance lever replacing the advance knob. The V A had the f:3.5 lens and the V B had the f:2.8 lens. The Chrome Six RII A and Chrome Six RII B from 1955 were very similar to the Chrome Six V with an uncoupled rangefinder. It is said that the shutter top speed was upgraded in 1956 to 1/300. Other minor variations have been observed in the height of the top plate, the shape of the release button, the sync plug and the color of the depth of field plate. These were the last Olympus folders. In 1957 Olympus had abandoned the 6×6 folders and the 6x6 TLRs and made only 35mm models. Bibliography * Histoire de l'appareil photographique Olympus de 1936 à 1983, by D. & J.-P. Francesch, ed. Dessain et Tolra Links * The Olympus folders' page at John Foster's site is the best reference page about the Olympus folders * The medium format cameras at Olympus corporate site * The chronology at Olympus corporate site * Chrome Six IVA at Cla_came in English and in Japanese, with all its operation described in pictures * Chrome Six at Cosmonet, said to be a Chrome Six IVA but illustrated is a RIIA * Instruction manual on the Chrome Six III at butkus.org * Folding page at cameradecollection, with an early Chrome Six III presented as a Chrome Six I * Chrome Six RIIB at Takahara Minoru's page, and the same, more complete, in Japanese * Olypedia.de pages in German: Semi Olympus I, Semi Olympus II, Olympus Six, Chrome Six I, Chrome Six II, Chrome Six III, Chrome Six IVA, Chrome Six IVB, Chrome Six VA, Chrome Six VB * Olympus Six at Japan Family Camera * Chrome Six III at 415 Foto * Chrome Six III and Chrome Six V at madam * Chrome Six III at triplethouse * The Chrome Six III in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology * Chrome Six IVA at the Olympus Photo Club site * Chrome Six IVB at a page of the All Japan Classic Camera Club * Chrome Six VA at ksmt.com * Old Japanese ads * More Japanese ads Repairs * Olympus Chrome Six V repair notes at Kan's Room Category: 4.5x6 folding Category: 6x6 folding Category: 6x6 rangefinder folding Category: Japan Category: Olympus Category: O